Dining | Ethnic cuisine plentiful in Columbus

Thursday

Mar 28, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 28, 2013 at 2:40 PM

Weary of Western food? Tired of Tex-Mex or Thai? A wealth of global cuisines offers "new" flavors worlds apart from the norm - and served steps from your backyard. From tiny grocers to tablecloth bistros, a variety of sights, sounds and smells is plentiful.

Kevin Joy, The Columbus Dispatch

Weary of Western food? Tired of Tex-Mex or Thai?

A wealth of global cuisines offers “new” flavors worlds apart from the norm — and served steps from your backyard.

“This is the closest you can get to traveling without leaving I-270,” said Bethia Woolf, a Victorian Village resident who blogs extensively about the central Ohio restaurant scene and co-owns Columbus Food Adventures — whose guided excursions include an “alt eats” tour of ethnic spots off the beaten path.

“There are places in Columbus where you really feel like you’re not in Columbus anymore."

From tiny grocers to tablecloth bistros, a variety of sights, sounds and smells is plentiful.

Personal stories of area proprietors, typically immigrants themselves, often complement a meal.

“You can have some really great experiences,” said Woolf, who suggested four diverse area establishments to Weekender that might fill the bill.

kjoy@dispatch.com

@kevjoy

Nigerian

Intercontinental Restaurant

5777 CLEVELAND AVE. (614-259-3951, www.nigeriancuisine.us)

Unfamiliarity with African food is no reason to shy from Esther and Olawale Ajiboye, who will detail the menu of their homeland to anyone.

“Mexicans, Indians, Americans black or white come in to eat,” said Olawale, who is quick with a grin and a hearty laugh. “I want you to feel like you’re at home.”

Open for two years, the North Side restaurant serves Nigerian cuisine with an emphasis on healthful fare. Meats and vegetables are baked, not fried.

More exotic tastes are found in the Ajiboyes’ distinct specialties, which include tomato-based jollof rice, doughlike fufu made from boiled yams and a thick egusi soup containing spinach, melon seed and dried shrimp.

Once a restaurateur in Nigeria, Olawale came to Columbus in 2002 for graduate study. His wife, who also once owned a restaurant, lost her banking job in 2010. Their combined talents gave birth to the tidy restaurant shortly afterward.

Although their venture has found regulars, the couple takes pride in feeding first-timers.

“It’s a great adventure to eat here,” Esther said.

Cambodian

Siem Reap

375 GEORGESVILLE RD.

(614-279-2903, www.siemreaprestaurant.biz)

After a top-to-bottom rehab of a former Captain D’s fast-food outlet last year, the West Side establishment dishes up recipes passed down from Nyna Sorn’s parents, who emigrated from Cambodia in 1984.

Among the eats: lemongrass-stuffed chicken wings, hearty noodle soups and a cook-your-own tabletop hot pot served with raw meat and vegetables that can serve six.

With chili pepper a constant on the menu, “it’s mostly about spice,” said Sorn, who this spring plans to grow her own herbs and produce, “but not so hot where you can’t stand it.”

The co-owner and her three siblings have been surprised by the American reception, including a few “off the cliff” requests for offal (organ meats and extremities such as feet and heads) as well as fertilized chicken embryos known as balut — both of which require advance notice.

More familiar entrees are readily available.

A location across from the Hollywood Casino on Georgesville Road helps sustain hours that run until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. A liquor license allows the serving of litchi and jackfruit martinis, among other spirits.

Haitian

Haitian & American Restaurant

1784 E. DUBLIN-GRANVILLE RD. (614-794-8899)

Fearful that the cuisine of Haiti wouldn’t click, Jean Milor and Adeline Francois once featured a hefty dose of American fare on their menu.

Even more surprising: “I would say 75 percent of customers are white,” Francois said. “They want to try different food.”

On Saturdays, the couple serves a beef-and-vegetable bouillon. Sundays feature a traditional pumpkin soup widely enjoyed by Haitians as a way to honor their country’s independence.

The drink menu includes a “crema” cocktail made of coconut, milk, nutmeg and Haitian rum for those wanting to stay awhile.

Although their business is still finding its legs, the immigrants are eager to control their destiny.

“In Haiti, there’s not much job,” Francois said, “no matter what you’re doing or what degree you have.”

Pakistani

Khyber Restaurant

425 INDUSTRIAL MILE RD.

(614-275-2022, www.facebook.com/khybermarket)

A glance at Adil Khan’s right forearm reflects an atypical workplace hazard: A clay tandoori oven heated to 700 degrees.

Reaching into the depths to retrieve meat skewers as well as airy nan bread — its dough slapped on blistering walls to bake — has singed his arm hair clean off.

Adding a few gray follicles, meanwhile, is Khan’s seven-day-a-week schedule.

“Restaurants never close,” he said, with a smile.

After coming to the United States in 2004, Khan worked at a New York gas station and, until recently, at Tandoori Grill — the city’s other Pakistani restaurant.

Thanks to his mother, his cooking skills were honed far earlier.

“Everything she makes is delicious,” said the Islamabad native, who opened Khyber (named for a mountain pass connecting Pakistan with Afghanistan) on the West Side in January.

The cuisine shares similarities with neighboring India, seen in items such as meat kebabs, vegetarian dal and curries — which Khan refers to as qorma. Preference for spice varies by a Pakistani’s home region, he said.

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